Seat with flexible rubber panel

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a seat containing several moveable, substantially vertically arranged, rubber panels which are mounted in parallel in a retention frame in such a way that the parallel, moveable, substantially vertically arranged, rubber panels align themselves horizontally when subjected to strain from above and form a horizontal sitting area, which is preferably suitable for use in public buildings such as waiting rooms, bus shelters or railway stations.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention provides a seat which is preferablysuitable for use in public buildings such as waiting rooms, bus sheltersor railway stations and which can be used in the open air.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Seats in public buildings or public places are now often made ofplastic shells which are mounted on metal frames. As a result ofvandalism or environmental effects these are very often unsightly andare not inviting to sit on.

[0003] Another alternative is to use metal shells, generally metalmeshes which are used in the form of a seating section on a frame. Theseprovide very limited seating comfort, comparable to that provided by thewooden benches which are also used in these situations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The object of the present invention is the provision of astructure which combines immunity to environmental effects with seatingcomfort.

[0005] This object is achieved by a seat containing several movable,substantially vertically arranged, rubber panels which are mounted inparallel in a retention frame in such a way that the parallel, movable,substantially vertically arranged, rubber panels align themselveshorizontally when subjected to strain from above and form a horizontalsitting area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 shows a side view of the seat together with the retentionframe.

[0007]FIG. 2 shows a front view of the seat together with the retentionframe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The rubber panels advantageously contain a mixture of rubber with+fillers and additives.

[0009] Suitable rubbers are advantageously chloroprene rubber, EPDM,EVM, HNBR and blends thereof.

[0010] Suitable fillers are advantageously carbon blacks, silicas,magnesium and/or aluminum hydroxides and blends thereof.

[0011] Suitable additives are advantageously plasticizers such asesters, ethers and/or mineral oils. Suitable additives are disclosed inHandbuch für die Gummi-Industrie, 2nd ed., Bayer AG, Germany, p.469-483.

[0012] Obviously, the rubber, filler and additives have to be adjustedto the strength and flexibility required for the particular rubberpanels. This lies within the abilities of a person skilled in the artand reference may also be made to Encyclopedia of Polymer Science andEngineering, Vol. 4, p. 66 et seq. (Compounding).

[0013] The following rubbers are very particularly suitable forproducing the preferred flame-resistant rubber panels: EVM, HNBR orblends.

[0014] The following fillers are very particularly suitable forproducing flame-resistant rubber panels: Mg(OH)₂ or Al(OH)₃ or blends.

[0015] The following additives are very particularly suitable forproducing flame-resistant rubber panels: phosphates.

[0016] Obviously, it is possible to mix plastics such as polyolefins(PE, PP), polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate or recycled plasticswith the rubbers. The proportion of plastics materials which may betolerated is governed by the specific ultimate application of the rubberpanels and the quality requirements for the mechanical properties suchas elasticity and strength.

[0017] In the general case, in the region of 20 to 320 phr of fillersand in the region of 10 to 80 phr of additives are used per 100 parts ofrubber (phr).

[0018] Another alternative for exerting an effect on the mechanicalproperties of the rubber panels is to adjust the degree of cross-linkingof the rubber/rubber mixture used. At this point, reference is made tothe Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering vol. 17, p. 666 etseq. (vulcanisation). In the region of 1 to 15 phr of cross-linkingagents are normally used.

[0019] It is often advantageous to use a composite material for therubber panels. This means that the plastics panel is not built upexclusively from one continuous layer of rubber, but has a layeredstructure.

[0020] This structure may contain two or more layers. Here, severalrubber layers made of the same or of different rubbers may be joinedtogether. The rubber layers preferably contain reinforcing materialssuch as glass fiber fabrics, textile fabrics, metal fabrics, fiberfabrics such as Kevlar® or Twaron®. In this instance, a fabric isunderstood to be any possible arrangement such as individual fibers,nets, mats, ropes, cables etc.

[0021] It is also possible to introduce the reinforcing materials as anintermediate layer between the rubber layers. In this case, one or moreintermediate layers may be present in the structure.

[0022] A combination of non-reinforced rubber layers and reinforcedrubber layers and/or intermediate layers is more preferred.

[0023] The retention frame is used to anchor the rubber panels andenables substantially vertical positioning of the rubber panels in theunoccupied status. This means that rain and snow run off and no watercollects on the sitting area produced under strain. The retention frameis advantageously made of metal. Furthermore, it is advantageous thatthe retention frame is not solid, but is a framework in the form of aseat, in particular a chair, wherein the rubber panels are mountedthereon instead of the sitting area.

[0024] The term substantially vertically arranged means that, in theresting status, the rubber panels are advantageously not located atprecisely an angle of 90° to the retention frame, but at an angle whichdiffers slightly or more than slightly from 90°, which facilitates therequired flexing/turning of the rubber panels and aids uniform movementof the rubber panels.

[0025] The ends of the rubber panels are advantageously connected firmlyand immovably to the retention frame. Movement of the rubber panelstakes place purely by twisting the rubber panels themselves under strainfrom above, wherein a sitting area is then produced. In an alternativeembodiment, the ends of the panels are connected to the retention frameby a ball-and-socket joint so that when the rubber panels are twistedunder strain from above, a sitting area is produced.

[0026] The sitting area may be continuous or interrupted, i.e. therubber panels may bend flush to form a sitting area or there may stillbe breaks in the sitting area after the bending process.

[0027] The height of retention is generally chosen so that a relaxedsitting position is ensured.

[0028] In FIGS. 1 and 2, the rubber slats (1) are mounted in theretention frame (2). The retention frame (2) is interconnected by meansof braces (3), (4) and (5). As shown in FIG. 1, the rubber slats (1) areall parallel to each other and essentially vertically oriented and canbe turned into a horizontal position both towards the left (6) and theright (7), so that a seat is formed.

[0029] Due to its structure, the seat described here is very resistantto vandalism and to environmental effects such as rain, snow and birddroppings.

[0030] Thus, it is especially suitable for use in the open air and isused as public seating in places such as in parks, waiting rooms,railway stations, bus shelters and airports.

[0031] The invention is further illustrated but is not intended to belimited by the following examples in which all parts and percentages areby weight unless otherwise specified.

[0032] The following examples explain the invention in more detail.

EXAMPLES

[0033] Methods of measurement Residual double bond content IRspectroscopy Mooney viscosity ASTM D 1646 (cited in ME) (ML 1 + 4 (100°C.)) Volatile constituents (wt. %) ASTM D 1416 Ash content (wt. %) ASTMD 1416 Acrylonitrile (ACN) content According to method given below: (wt.% bonded in the polymer)

[0034] Brief Description of Method for Determining ACN

[0035] During analysis, the rubber is pyrolyzed on a catalyst at 900° C.in a stream of oxygen. The unconsumed oxygen is absorbed in a copperreduction reactor and the NO-X gases formed are reduced to nitrogen.Then CO₂ present is extracted from the analysis gas stream in aNa₂CO₃/NaOH trap and the water present is extracted in a MgClO₄ trap.The change in thermal conductivity of the analysis gas, as compared withthe carrier gas stream, is a measure of the nitrogen content of thesample.

[0036] Equipment for Method Described Above

[0037] Protein analyzer, Fisons, model NA 2000

[0038] Micro-scales, Sartorius, model Micro

[0039] Evaluation unit, Digital, model DECpc Lpx 433 dx with interfacesto NA 2000 and weighing interface, and also EAGER 200 software

[0040] Chemicals and Solvents for Method Described Above

[0041] Methionine, Hekatech

[0042] Constituents of Formulation for the Invention TABLE 1 43% ACN,Therban A 4307 Bayer AG max. 0.9% RDB, 63 ME Apyral 40E Nabaltecaluminum hydroxide Vulkasil N Bayer AG silica Disflamoll TOF Bayer AGphosphate Distribution oil Si 200 GE-Bayer Silicones silane RhenovinDDA-70 Rheinchemie diphenylamine derivative Rheinau GmbH PolydispersionT Rheinchemie di-(tert.-butyl-peroxy-iso- (VC)D-40 P Rheinau GmbHpropyl)benzene, polymer bonded

[0043] Preparing the Mixtures

[0044] The mixtures were prepared in a laboratory compounder GK 1.5 E(Krupp Elastomertechnik, Hamburg), temperature of cooling water 50° C.,speed of blades 50 rpm, plunger pressure 6 bar, degree to whichcompounder is filled 70-80% with respect to volume of chamber in thecompounder.

[0045] Mixing sequence: rubber introduced initially, after 1 min runningtime ⅓ of the constituents added, after each 1.5 minutes a further onethird, compounder emptied at a batch temperature of <150° C. Theperoxide was post-mixed on a roller (Krupp Elastomertechnik, rolldiameter 200 mm, working width 350 mm) at 40° C. cooling watertemperature.

[0046] The sheets for determining the mechanical properties werecross-linked/vulcanised between Teflon films, under the conditionscited, in a vulcanising press (Krupp Elastomertechnik).

[0047] Testing the Mixtures TABLE 2 Value Properties Test Standard MDRRheometer Dimension Progress of vulcanisation DIN 53 529 Minimum, andS′dNm Torque part 3 Maximum, or Minimum-Maximum or Max-Min Differencemax/min T10, T50, T80, minutes Time for 10%, 50%, T90 80%, 90%conversion F MPa Tensile strength DIN 53 504 D % Extension at break DIN53 504 S xxx MPa Modulus at xxx % DIN 53 504 expansion H Shore A/DHardness DIN 53 505 LOI % Limiting index oxygen ASTM D 2863 WW N/mm Tearpropagation VDE 0472 resistance ASTM D 470

Example 1

[0048] The mixture was prepared from the feedstocks described in Table 1as described in the section “Preparing the mixture”, and tested.

[0049] The test results are given in Table 3. TABLE 3 Therban A 4307 100Apyral 40 E 150 Vulkasil N 40 Disflamoll TOF 5 Distributor oil Si 200 10Rhenovin DDA-70 1.4 Polydispersion T(VC)D-408 6 Total parts by wt. 317.4

[0050] TABLE 4 (properties) MDR Rheometer 170° C., running time 20 minMinimum (S-dNm) 6.5 M_(max)-M_(min) 23.6 t10 (min) 2.4 t 80 6.4 t 90 7.2Vulcanization 20 min/170° C. F (MPa) 11.5 D (%) 515 S 50 (MPa) 1.9 S 100(MPa) 2.3 S 300 (MPa) 4.0 H (Shore A) 75 WW (VDE) (N/mm) 46 WW (ASTM)(N/mm) 8.5 LOI (%) 43

[0051] Although the invention has been described in detail in theforegoing for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood thatsuch detail is solely for that purpose and that variations can be madetherein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention except as it may be limited by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A seat comprising at least one moveable,substantially vertically arranged, rubber panels which are mounted inparallel in a retention frame wherein the parallel, moveable,substantially vertically arranged, rubber panels align themselveshorizontally when subjected to strain from above and form a horizontalsitting area.
 2. A seat according to claim 1, wherein the rubber panelscomprise one or more flame-resistant rubbers.
 3. A seat according toclaim 1, wherein the rubber panels comprise a composite material.